Blog entries - June 2008

Homily for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul

Priest Matthew Jackson — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100

We’ve been very fortunate this year to have several feastdays and important commemorations on Sunday, and this continues today with the Feast of the Leaders of the Apostles Peter and Paul.

Last year, if I remember correctly, we looked at the missionary mind of St. Paul. Because we’re in a very similar situation, as a mission parish, takingthe fullness of the Gospel to people around us who have never heard it in the way that we have to tell it, St. Paul (and PeRead More...

Homily on the Sunday of All Saints

Priest Matthew Jackson — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Every year, on the Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate the Sunday of All Saints. After we remember the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, we remember those men and women who have shone forth over the history of the Orthodox Christian Church as bearers of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is where the Incarnation is headed, the movement is always toward the descent of the Holy Spirit—after Christ redeems our fallen nature on the Cross, the Holy Spirit is send to guide us into all truthRead More...

Homily on the Feast of Holy Pentecost

Priest Matthew Jackson — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Today we celebrate the Feast of Holy Pentecost, the Feast of the Holy Spirit. I’d like us to think for a few minutes about the Holy Spirit, and not in the form of a theological treatise on the person of the Holy Spirit, or anything like that. But what is the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church, and in our lives as Orthodox Christians, today?

The activity of the Holy Spirit is evident in the life of the people of God throughout the Old Testament, but with today&rsquRead More...

Homily on the reading from the Prophecy of Ezekiel from Pentecost

Priest Matthew Jackson — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100

In the Orthodox Christian Church we’re in a period now between the Feast of the Ascension and the Feast of Holy Pentecost. So many of our hymns and readings in this period are looking back on the life and the work of Christ (crowned with His Ascension) and looking forward to the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. I’d like to read a short passage from the Old Testament book of Ezekiel the Prophet; this reading will be heard at Saturday night’s service, in preparation forRead More...

Being Orthodox When You Miss Church - A Lot

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Icons in Sound is a relatively new program on the Orthodox Christian Network. The host, Vlad Morosan, is an expert on Orthodox liturgical music. I feel like this is a show that practically every Orthodox Christian needs to listen to, and listen to every week.

Why? Because we don't go to church except on Sunday.

Well, we don't. I'm not pointing fingers. IRead More...

Sunday after the Ascension

Priest Matthew Jackson — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100

This past Thursday we celebrated one of the 12 major feasts of our Church—the Ascension of Christ into heaven. Christ’s Ascension to heaven is the final work of His earthly ministry. All that is to be revealed by Christ has now been deposited—His earthly ministry is complete. We say that the revelation has been deposited because everything about Christ wasn’t always completely understood by those around Him. Christ even says that His ministry would only be fully understooRead More...

Sunday of the Blind Man

Priest Matthew Jackson — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100

In today’s Gospel reading, we have the healing of a man who was blind from birth. This is the only time in the Scriptures where a man is healed who was blind from the time of his birth, and in fact, this type of healing (of infirmities that were not cause by something that happened to a person, but were there from the beginning of that person’s life) was thought to be the most difficult, and it was a sign of the Messiah to be able to heal in this way.

In the wrRead More...